JL Williams was born in New Jersey and studied at Wellesley College and on the MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. Her poetry has been published in journals including Poetry Wales, The Wolf, Shearsman, Fulcrum and Stand.

Since moving to Edinburgh in 2001 she has been active both as a poet and in the performing arts as a director and producer. She was awarded a grant from the Scottish Arts Council for a poetry collaboration entitled 'chiaroscuro pentimenti' with composer Martin Parker and artist Anna Chapman and the Edwin Morgan Travel Bursary from the Scottish Arts Trust. In September 2009 she journeyed to the Aeolian Isles to write a collection inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, Condition of Fire (Shearsman Books, 2011).

JL Williams performs in the band Opul, and regularly works with the composer and musician James Iremonger. She also writes a blog about scent and art called Jus. 

She is Programme Manager at the Scottish Poetry Library.